Venus Williams has been looking to regain the form she once had and we all remember and if Wednesday was any indication that form may not be that far from her. Williams was dominant in a 56 minute 6-2, 6-1 win over the #12 player in the world in Ana Ivanovic. Williams serve wasn’t totally up to speed with a first serve % of just 44%, but she won all 18 that she got in and was a strong 52% on second serve points. She broke Ivanovic five times in eight service games by attacking her second serve and winning 68% of those points.

In doubles action Venus and Serena Williams were knocked out by top five doubles players Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina  6-4, 4-6, 10-4. The match was always tight with both teams winning over 60% of their service points and each team being broken twice in ten service games. Things just went the way of the Russians in the deciding super-tie break. It isn’t the worst thing though for the Williams sisters who both have quarterfinal matches on Thursday to focus on and could be quite busy the next few days with singles play.

Singles Draw

This is the route for each American to the main draw if the higher rankings win. Green means the American on the left would be the higher ranked player, red means they would be lower ranked. Bold on an athlete indicates that match has been completed. Matches highlighted in yellow are on today’s schedule. Click to expand.

The draw for Venus Williams has gotten a bit easier as second seed Agnieszka Radwanska was knocked out on Wednesday by Flavia Panetta. Panetta will still be the higher ranked player, but it’s not a world top-five player in the quarterfinals anymore. In fact the only top five player left that Williams could face is her own sister Serena. This also means Serena wouldn’t need to beat any top five players to win this tournament. When #4 Sara Errani was beaten by #8 Caroline Wozniacki it meant that Venus wouldn’t face any top-ten players on her side of the draw. A finals appearance looks more and more doable for Venus.

On Serena’s side after Carla Suarez Navarro upset Petra Kvitova there is only one top ten player between Serena and the title, her next opponent Jelena Jankovic.

Continue reading Venus Williams Joins Serena in Dubai Quarterfinals →

The only American in action on Tuesday was Serena Williams who was facing Ekaterina Makarova in the second round. The first set was a really tight affair with Williams being broken two times but breaking back and forcing a tiebreak. The tiebreak itself went long before Williams finally pulled out the 10-8 win. That seemed to break the match wide open as Williams went on to break Makarova every time in the second set as she won the match 7-6 (10-8), 6-0.

Serena will now have Wednesday off in singles play (she does have a doubles match with her sister Venus) before her quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.

Singles Draw

This is the route for each American to the main draw if the higher rankings win. Green means the American on the left would be the higher ranked player, red means they would be lower ranked. Bold on an athlete indicates that match has been completed. Matches highlighted in yellow are on today’s schedule. Click to expand.

Continue reading Serena Williams first into the Quarterfinals in Dubai →

Sloane Stephens is out in Dubai after a disappointing 6-3, 7-5 loss to Lucie Safarova in the first round on Monday. It wasn’t a good showing by Stephens who was fine on her first serve but won just eight of 28 points on her second serve and was broken in five of her 11 service games. She did well against Safarova’s second serve but didn’t get enough opportunities and was really poor on her first serve.

The loss was not as bad as the one Stephens suffered in Qatar last week, Safarova is a top 30 player, but still it’s another non-Grand Slam tournament that Stephens hasn’t done much in.

In other singles action Venus Williams was impressive in a 6-3, 6-2 upset (by the numbers) over Elena Vesnina. Venus faced only one break point (which she saved) and broke Vesnina in four of her eight service games. Williams won 59 of the 97 points in the match.

In doubles action Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears defeated fellow American Liezel Huber and her partner Hao-Ching Chan 6-3, 7-6 (4). The two Americans took aim at the Huber/Chan second serve as they won 16 of the 19 points off of it as they broke them three times.

The other American to play on Monday was Lisa Raymond who was teamed with Shuai Zhang. Originally scheduled to face twin sisters Karolina Pliskova and Kristyna Pliskova they ended up playing Kirsten Flipkens and Petra Kvitova. Things did not start well with a 6-0 doughnut in the first set. They rebounded strong though with a 6-4 second set win and a 10-7 tiebreak victory to win the match.

Singles Draw

This is the route for each American to the main draw if the higher rankings win. Green means the American on the left would be the higher ranked player, red means they would be lower ranked. Bold on an athlete indicates that match has been completed. Matches highlighted in yellow are on today’s schedule. Click to expand.

Continue reading Sloane Stephens Out in Dubai, Williams Sisters Only US Singles Left →

Bethanie Mattek-Sands was the final American alive in qualifying but she was knocked off 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) by Mona Barthel so there will only be six Americans in the main draw. Mattek-Sands was able to get to the Barthel serve and work into break point situations a lot but only broke her on 5 of 19 break points. Mattek-Sands was broken four times in seven break points.

Now as we turn to the main draw the US will feature three players: Venus Williams who looked good in Qatar but couldn’t pull off the upset, Sloane Stephens who struggled in Qatar and could really use a tournament like this to make a statement, and world #1 Serena Williams who is playing for the first time since the Australian Open where she struggled with a back injury at the end. It will be interesting to see how Serena looks this week.

Continue reading Three Americans in Main Draw as Dubai Tennis Championships Begins →

Qualifying’s #7 seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands continued what’s been a good week in the Persian Gulf with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kristýna Plíšková on Saturday. Mattek-Sands is now the lone American left in the qualifying draw after Varvara Lepchenko was upset 6-4, 6-3 by Maryna Zanevska, Abigail Spears (a long shot alternate who doesn’t play singles often) was beaten 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 by Annika Beck.

Mattek-Sands is now two wins away from joining Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, and Venus Williams in the main draw.

Qualifying Draws

This is the route for each American to the main draw if the higher rankings win. Green means the American on the left would be the higher ranked player, red means they would be lower ranked. Bold on an athlete indicates that match has been completed. Click to expand.

The path to the main draw did get easier for Mattek-Sands as the Lepchenko loss means if she can get by Mona Barthel then Petra Martic would be the highest ranked player she would meet in the final round of qualifying.

Continue reading Bethanie Mattek-Sands Lone American Left in Dubai Qualifying. →

After knocking off Eugenie Bouchard in Doha earlier in the week Bethanie Mattek-Sands finds herself in qualifying in Dubai trying to reach the main draw of the tennis championship. Mattek-Sands is joined in the qualifying draw by Varvara Lepchenko and a late addition, Abigail Spears (normally a doubles player).

Qualifying Draws

This is the route for each American to the main draw if the higher rankings win. Green means the American on the left would be the higher ranked player, red means they would be lower ranked. Bold on an athlete indicates that match has been completed. Click to expand.

Continue reading Three US Women in Qualifying for Dubai Tennis Championship →

Bethanie Mattek-Sands has become one of my favorite US players to watch over the last year. Her unique style is enjoyable and she has a lot of toughness. It seems like when she gets drawn against the top players she’s ready to battle them and despite adversity in most of those matchups she’ll battle back and not go down without throwing a few punches.

We saw that toughness on Tuesday when Mattek-Sands took on Eugenie Bouchard. Down a break late in set one with Bouchard serving for the set at 4-5 Mattek-Sands broke back and then after holding serve to 6-5 she broke Bouchard again to snatch the first set 7-5. She then continue the strong play in set two as she blazed to a 7-5, 6-1 win over the young Canadian. Mattek-Sands was great on her first serve winning 74% of the points and attacked Bouchard’s second serve. Bouchard was serving just 42% on her first serve so there were numerous opportunities as Mattek-Sands won 64% of Bouchard’s second serve points. Mattek-Sands now faces Monica Niculescu in round two and is the higher seeded player. 

Continue reading Bethanie Mattek-Sands Upsets #15 Eugenie Bouchard on Day 2 of Qatar Total Open →

On Monday in Doha Sloane Stephens took to the court a heavy favorite over Petra Cetkovska, the 133rd ranked player in the world. The first set was a tight affair, some major struggles followed by a last ditch comeback. Nothing new for Sloane, and Stephens lost 7-5. The bottom fell out though in set two as she dropped it 6-1. Now the question will be asked: was this Sloane’s wrist just not healthy enough yet and her hoping she could play well and it just not happening, or is this just another disappointment of a young Stephens overlooking an opponent, not showing up focused, and losing it mentally when the going got tough?

Sloane does have a wrist injury, that happened back in Australia at the beginning of the year and no one is denying that. She even used it as an excuse to not play in the Fed Cup for the US this weekend. But then why was she in the draw at Doha? According to Sports Illustrated, that fact that Stephens was in the draw was a surprise to American Fed Cup captain Mary Jo Hernandez who was surprised it when told about it by a reporter (View that here). Maybe she stayed in the draw just to see what would happen in it, there’s certainly no penalty for going and trying, and the wrist still is really bothering her. She did have 70 points to try and defend and as a seeded player had a favorable draw.

But it would seem there is more at play here and her continued poor attitude at times on the court continues to weigh on peoples’ minds. Sloane is still just 20 years old, but she’ll be 21 in a month and the tennis world isn’t like the real world. She can’t bloom in her 30’s like the average 20-something who doesn’t get it together in their younger years. If she wants to be a top player in the world that development has to come soon. She’s been a star at the Grand Slams when all the attention is on with five straight appearances in the round of 16. Yet in lesser tournaments last year she often got knocked out early and went 24-19 (compared to 15-4 at Grand Slams). Becoming a real professional that shows up seriously each week and plays consistently is desperately needed for her.

Continue reading #14 Sloane Stephens Upset in First Round of Qatar Total Open →